Confidence About America’s Safety From Terrorism Remains Low

Americans continue to question the country’s safety from terrorism and are skeptical of the government’s ability to prevent domestic terror attacks in the future.

A new Full Measure News/Rasmussen Reports national telephone and online survey finds that only 27% of American Adults believe the United States is safer today than it was before the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, down just one point from June, which was the lowest level measured in regular tracking since 2006. Fifty-five percent (55%) do not think the country is safer today, while a sizable 18% are undecided. (To see survey question wording, click here.)

Forty-seven percent (47%) are at least somewhat confident that the U.S. government can protect its citizens from future domestic terrorist attacks, but 50% are not. This includes 11% who are Very Confident and 19% who are Not At All Confident.

Separate surveying finds that 52% of voters think the federal government does not focus enough on the threat of domestic Islamic terrorism.

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The survey of 1,000 Likely Voters was conducted on September 3-5, 2016 by Rasmussen Reports and Full Measure News. The margin of sampling error is +/- 3 percentage points with a 95% level of confidence. Field work for all Rasmussen Reports surveys is conducted by Pulse Opinion Research, LLC. See methodology.

In the wake of the Orlando nightclub shooting in June, most voters said the government won't be able to stop further terrorist attacks on the homeland.

Only 19% of Americans think the bigger threat to this country now is an attack from terrorists outside the country, while most (68%) say a domestic terrorist attack is the bigger threat.

Democrats are far more confident than Republicans and voters not affiliated with either political party are that the government can prevent domestic terrorism and that the United States is safer today than it was before the 9/11 terrorist attacks.

Among those who are likely to vote, 28% say the country is safer today since before the 9/11 attacks, compared to 19% who are unlikely to vote. Likely Voters also tend to be more confident in the ability of the government to prevent domestic terrorist attacks.

Adults under 40 are slightly more confident than their elders are about the government’s ability to prevent future terror attacks.

Voters tend to think Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump would do a better job than Hillary Clinton protecting the country from terrorists.

President Obama still won't say it for fear of offending Muslims, but most voters continue to believe the United States is at war with radical Islamic terrorism.

A sizable number of Americans feel their fellow countrymen have forgotten the impact of the 9/11 attacks.

Additional information from this survey and a full demographic breakdown are available to Platinum Members only.

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